1790 VOTER LISTS - PDFs
ca 1790 Voter Lists - DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPTIONS
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Two Voter Lists, one from 1788 (Part 1), the other 1792 (Part2) are an incredible resource for the late 1700s. However, as a resource it is poorly known, and to the best of this author's knowledge, this is the only transcription that has been undertaken.
The Voter Lists are two in number - one was compiled before the voting, and the second at the time of voting. The basis of voting rights was the "freehold" which by this time came to be represented by leases of three years or more. Therefore the election officials carefully scrutinized leases. In some cases individuals were disenfranchised if it was determined they had acquired the lease only to vote.
The attached .pdf document includes 921 individuals in the 1788 Part 1 list, and 1,276 individual names in the 1792 Part 2 list.
Besides First and Last Name, the entries include the townland in which the voter resided, as well as the townland in which the freehold was located, plus the date that freehold was registered, and the official value of the freehold. Some entries also include observations, some related to the lease, but many related to suspicions regarding infringements of the voting requirements on freehold, religion or bribery.
Note that TOWNLAND names are difficult to decipher, and spelling was somewhat on a phonetic basis. The names are often different from those used in the 19th century for the tithe applotments (1820s/30s) and Griffiths Valuation (1854). While it means the records are sometimes a challenge to relate to specific locations, they are still a wonderful resource
When time allows, I am prepared to email up to TWO .jpgs of the original images to researchers that contact me. If you wish to examine more of the records, check the options that are listed in the notes on p.2 of the pdf file.
